The body of this snake
was between 24 and 36 inches long. The scales were shiny and slick.
Rattlesnakes have dull bodies with prominent scales that are not
shiny. Of course, rattlesnakes also have rattles on their tails that give
their identity away, and copperheads, whose bodies are smooth like the rat
snakes, have distinctive, copper-colored markings.

The tail was tapered to a fine point. That, too, is used by some as a sign that it
is not venomous, since rattlesnakes have blunt tails (but Copperheads, which are
venomous, have pointed tails, so this is not a good marker to use). Coral
snakes have tapered tails, but their distinctive coloration is so
remarkable that they would never be mistaken for a rat snake like this
one.

This hapless fellow
got all tangled up in deer netting that was intended to keep deer from
browsing the vegetation it protected. Unfortunately, the little squares
were just large enough to allow the snake's head to get through, but not
enough to admit its body at mid length (possibly the snake had eaten
something earlier that had increased its girth). When I found it, several
days had already passed since its imprisonment. The bulge that had
prevented it from getting through the net had been digested, but by that
time the snake had become hopelessly entangled in the netting and was not
a happy camper.

The snake's head was triangular in
shape, and slightly swollen at its neck. This is a common feature in many
non-venomous snakes, making them appear to the untrained observer as
having venom glands. Venomous snakes often, but not always, have much wider heads that are swollen above the neck with venom glands,
giving their heads an
arrowhead shape. Rat snakes also have a slight to strong arrowhead shape
to the head, because their jaws are designed to open wide to swallow
large prey such as mice and rats and this gives the head a slight bulge
just above the neck. Since rats and mice carry disease and tend to mess
with our foodstuffs, snakes that prey on them are, by and large,
extremely beneficial members of our neighborhood. That goes double if
they are non-venomous rat snakes like this one.

Even though it was not venomous, this
snake was extremely aggressive and more than willing to bite the hand that was
attempting to free it from its prison of deer netting. Such aggressive
behavior is not uncommon for rat snakes, especially if they are cornered.
Unfortunately, this often results in their demise at the hands of their
human hosts, even though their bite is not dangerous (note the absence of
fangs in this specimen).

The designation
of "Rat Snake" is not very scientific. "Black Rat
Snake" is more definitive for this specimen. Most reference books describe the species
as Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta. Snakes of this species have dominant colors ranging from
blue to black,
as in this specimen. A close cousin, Elaphe obsoleta lindheimeri,
known as the Texas rat snake, has dominant colors of brown, orange and red (see the snake photographed
on July 12, 2001). The head of the adult is of a uniform coloration above,
with a white chin. Its belly is white or gray, sometimes with vague
mottling. The saddle-shaped markings on its back, irrespective of dominant
background/foreground coloring, are typical for most
snakes of this genus.